


I'll Be Home for Christmas

by SirensSong



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Informal adoption, M/M, Mpreg, Omegaverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 05:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5363912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirensSong/pseuds/SirensSong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had been watching the child through the window of the store for the last twenty minutes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Be Home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by RottenRice. Names aren't what I would normally use for their kids, but are time period accurate. Inspired by the Disney short "The Little Matchstick Girl".

He had been watching the child through the window of the store for the last twenty minutes. 

Looking over his shoulder, Merlin couldn’t help but smile fondly. Arthur was arguing with the shopkeep, like always, over something or other, most likely some inconsequential detail. There was giggling as well, from their two children, the younger gripping onto the knee of Arthur’s trousers and laughing at his sister, who was making a show of herself, running about the store and being a general nuisance. 

Turning back to the window, the smile quickly faded. He couldn’t place exactly how old she was, perhaps a year or two older than his own daughter, but she was in rags, the wind and snow whipping them about her slight form while she turned this way and that among the crowd outside, trying to sell matches. No one paid her any mind, turned their gazes away, that is, if they allowed their gazes to fall on her in the first place. Merlin couldn’t help but compare her to his own children, who were chubby-cheeked and bundled in expensive, thick clothing to protect them from the chill wind. Not that it mattered much. Their carriage was waiting outside, and there were blankets ready to be bundled around them while they rode in it, so they were rarely exposed to the elements. He and Arthur were both dressed suitably as well, in long coats tailored to fit them snugly, Merlin’s just slightly more feminine than Arthur’s, a little longer and with a slightly more pronounced curve to it, and white-trimmed dark blue to Arthur’s completely black one. But they were both thick and warm.

The child outside had to be freezing, as well as starving by the looks of her. 

“Ready, Merlin?”

Arthur’s voice broke through his thoughts, and he turned to find his mate with bags hanging off one arm, holding the hand of their three-year-old with his other. Their daughter, six years old, was standing patiently by her father, though Merlin knew that was likely to last all of maybe a minute. She was a Pendragon through and through, impatience included.

Rather than answer, Merlin turned back to the window, and Arthur joined him after a moment, trying to pick out what he was looking at.

“Ah,” he said after a moment, gaze finally catching the child outside. “You know that’s the way of the world, love. We’ll give her some money before we leave.”

Merlin hadn’t expected anything else. Arthur had been born and raised in a family that had money and never needed to worry about anything. He had grown up blind to the struggles of others. Merlin’s family had always had some money, enough for food and clothing but little extra. In the years since they had met and bonded, Arthur had softened considerably, but he was still hardened towards many things Merlin could never be. Especially since having his, seeing children left on their own, without family to care and provide for them, was something he couldn’t stomach. There were far too many orphans in London.

“Let’s bring her home,” he said, turning to Arthur. He set his jaw, knowing Arthur would pick up on it and see it for the resolution than it was. He wasn’t asking. For a moment, Arthur seemed taken aback, but it was quickly replaced with a deep understanding, mixed with regret.

“You know we can’t do that,” he said, tone gone soft and consoling. “If we could rescue every abandoned child in the city, of course we would, but-”

“So the fact that we can’t help them all means we shouldn’t bother to even help one?” Merlin snapped, immediately frustrated as something hot and angry settling in his stomach, the threatening burn of impending tears starting underneath his eyes.

Fucking pregnancy hormones. He hadn’t even told Arthur yet, though he knew his Alpha would be as pleased as he had been the first two times.

“Merlin-” Arthur started, but Merlin turned away, stalking towards the door of the shop. They didn’t often quarrel, not for real, and especially not in front of their children. Their daughter had run off again, though, unsurprisingly, bothering the shopkeeper with endless questions.

“Get the children and your presents loaded in the carriage. I’m going to fetch her,” he said, stalking out the door before his mate could protest. As soon as he neared the girl, he softened his expression and body language, waiting until her gaze landed on him and she made to approach him. He stopped then, waiting, letting her close the distance. The wind was blowing from behind him, and the child perked up suddenly, no doubt catching his scent and recognizing that she had caught the attention of an Omega, and since he was giving her his attention, he was much more likely to be sympathetic, or at the very least be swayed into buying a match.

When she was only a few steps away, Merlin crouched down to meet her, ignoring the huffs and grumbles of people who were forced to swerve around him. “Hello,” he said quietly.

“Hello,” the child parrotted back at him, extending one of the matches. She didn’t even have any shoes, Merlin realized belatedly, and there was snow on the ground. He swallowed tightly, summoning a smile. “Would you like to buy a match, sir?” 

“What’s your name?” Merlin asked, rather than giving an answer. The child swayed, obviously uncertain, before answering, much quieter than she had spoke before. 

“Lillian, sir,” she said, and Merlin brightened his smile. 

“Do you have a family, Lillian?” he pressed, watching as the child’s gaze turned down at the question, shoulders hunching inwards slightly.

“No,” she answered, voice gone quieter still. “Mum left, and my grandmum recently did as well. S’just me, now.” Her voice lilted with the accent of the more impoverished, the same accent Merlin spoke with naturally, though he had trained himself out of it for the sake of dealing with the people within the circles Arthur ran in. It just pulled at his heart even more.

“So you don’t have anywhere to go, no one to take care of you then,” he pressed, letting his own accent slip, watching as the child startled and met his gaze again, obviously surprised. She didn’t answer vocally, just shook her head. “How would you like to come with me?” he prompted after a few moments had passed. 

He didn’t know what he had expected, but it wasn’t the hesitance he was met with, the wary gaze that flickered over him. Merlin swallowed tightly, hoping it was simply because she had been warned against strangers and not because someone had lured her in and hurt her in the past. Now was certainly not the time to probe for that answer, though, so he shifted to the side instead, pointing at the carriage still waiting outside the store. Arthur was standing next to it, looking annoyed but indulgent, and both children were peering over the side of the carriage, a blanket around each of their shoulders. “Look, Lily, that’s my Alpha, and our children,” he said, almost cooing, and watched as her gaze went where he was pointing, then back to him, hopeful. “You can come home with us,” he prompted. “You can have warm clothes and a soft bed to sleep in, people to care for you, never go hungry even for a day. We have plenty of room for you, we live in a big house, and we have animals as well. A dog that loves to lick, and cats that love to curl up with you by the fireplace, or in your bed at night.”

Whatever it was he said that convinced her, Merlin didn’t know, but suddenly there were little arms around his shoulders and a face buried in his neck. “There we are,” he said, wrapping one arm around her middle and the other under her thighs, standing with her in his arms. She weighed absolutely nothing, and being as old as she seemed to be, it was likely she’d been on her own for some time. Without proper care, she probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer. He turned and made his way back to the carriage, giving Arthur a small, somewhat watery smile. There was nothing his mate could do about it now, and he obviously recognized that. Arthur shook his head, but it was accompanied by a small, exasperated but incredibly fond smile. 

Merlin didn’t speak until he had stepped into the carriage and sat down, taking one of the furs and wrapping it around the little girl’s form and giving both his children indulgent smiles at their obvious curiosity. Arthur settled at his side, pulling one of the larger blankets around his own shoulders and then taking a corner in his hand, wrapping his arm and subsequently the blanket around Merlin as well, and Merlin obligingly leaned against him. 

“This is Lillian,” he said, and though she didn’t lift her head, he didn’t force her to. She would in her own time, he was sure. If anyone could understand being overwhelmed at a sudden, wonderful change in fortune and wanting to hide for a bit, it was him. “She’s going to be living with us from now on.”

“Is she our new sister?” Ruth asked, seating herself primly beside Merlin and trying to lean around to catch a glimpse of her face.

“Yes, she is,” Merlin confirmed. 

“But I a’ready gots a sister,” Daniel spoke up from where he had climbed into Arthur’s lap as soon as he had sat down. He was still missing some particular sounds in his speech, but was understandable no less.

To Merlin’s pleasant surprise, Arthur chuckled quietly and spoke up. “Well, now you have another one,” he said, and Merlin looked at him with a bright smile, then leaned over to kiss his cheek. 

“Such a wonderful father,” he murmured, just loud enough for Arthur to hear, and didn’t miss the pleased smile that flashed over Arthur’s expression. “And it’s ‘have’, baby, not ‘gots’,” he said, back in his normal tone, again adopting the more posh accent. The child rolled his eyes, and Arthur arched one eyebrow at Merlin, which he subsequently ignored. It wasn’t his fault Daniel was showing more and more signs of adopting his personality, rather than becoming the groomed young boy Arthur was trying to teach him to be. 

“Are you really going to be my family?” Lillian suddenly spoke up, finally lifting her head and glancing around shyly, though her arms tightened about Merlin’s neck as she did. 

“Yes, sweetling, we are,” Arthur answered before Merlin could, his tone all soft and coddling like it always was whenever one of their children was frightened or worried about something and he was soothing them. “We’ll take care of you. I promise.”

Lillian beamed at him suddenly, and Merlin ducked his head to hide his smile when she seemed to relax at last, nestling down into his lap and the furs he had wrapped around her. Ruth spoke up then, chattering away, and Lillian watched and giggled with wide eyes, like she had never interacted with another child before, growing more bold and offering more to the conversation the longer it lasted.

Merlin looked over at Arthur and met his gaze, and the warmth there might as well have banished the snow and wind entirely. For one child, at least, it had.


End file.
